How bakeries should handle negative feedback

Lux Sugar's Marilyn Monroe cupcake (red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting)

We've gotten some emails from bakery owners concerned about negative comments left on this blog. We do not censor reader comments, and in some threads debates rage for months. Recently Lux Sugar posted a comment on a thread about them here that exemplifies, to me, good customer service and the gracious realization that the internet is a forum where everyone can express their opinions. Update: Sorry, here is the feedback in question, from All Things Cupcake.

I think this is a good thing for customers and for bakeries, because it allows people to share what they liked and didn't like about a particular bakery. Some complaints are, of course, subjective - one person may not like a type of frosting - but others, such as bakeries not keeping the hours posted on their signs or making customers wait, are just bad customer service.

Bakeries with automatic knee-jerk, whiny and ultimately unhelpful to their business "why is someone saying something bad about me?" reactions would be wise to heed their example:

Greeting from Lux Sugar :-)
A faithful Cupcake Takes the Cake reader & Lux Sugar repeat customer (thanks Becca) let us know that a less than satisfactory comment was posted about Lux Sugar.
We at Lux Sugar take all comments seriously and have contacted UPS our preferred shipper to recoup the shipping costs that we gave as complimentary to the customer.
Also, we have contacted the customer to let her know we are processing a refund to her.
We regret that we were not first given an opportunity to rectify this situation before it was posted.

Thank you to our new and veteran customers who continue to adore our goodies and shop Lux Sugar.